


Date Nights

by SexuallyMonsterous (Alli_Bialystock)



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Gavin tries to impress Nelson, M/M, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 18:50:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9338354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alli_Bialystock/pseuds/SexuallyMonsterous
Summary: Gavin and Nelson both come up with date nights for each other for Christmas. When Nelson does exceptionally well, Gavin panics - as always.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Legs (InsanityRule)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsanityRule/gifts).



> For Legs/zsaszmatazz. I love you! <3 I was so lucky to get you for the exchange! I hope that my writing does you justice. You're a wonderful writer, person, and part of the fandom! <333

Gavin was really impressed with Nelson.  
Not that he wasn’t usually impressed – he was – but he was exceptionally impressed when he realized what Nelson’s gift was going to be.  
Gavin didn’t make it much of a habit to go to the spa, at least not by himself. The pampering felt overdone a lot of the time; it made him feel like an invalid instead of a man cured of illnesses of the mind and body and flushed of toxins. He had gone under very specific circumstances with other people before, but that didn’t really count, as he’d been able to find comfort in his self-sacrifice and altruism.  
Nelson, however, had done a great job of picking at place that was both lavish and fairly remote. Massages were done with absolutely no talking and with blindfolds on. Guests were left to sit, unattended, in their baths and get out when they preferred. There was even a hot spring in the back of the spa that Gavin had planned on permanently setting up residence in, a thought that was only dissuaded by Nelson’s rationalizations (“You know you’ll get super wrinkly and stuff, right?”).   
It was clear that Nelson had blown the vast majority of what he already had on a spa getaway for the two of them, and he had done an excellent job of choosing what Gavin would be interested in. For three days, they drank green tea, meditated, and got rub downs and wraps. The spa was huge and exclusive; they didn’t run into a single other guest anywhere in the compound, and all of the workers were silent and demure. It was perfect.   
On the way back in the car – not, Gavin thought with a smirk, one of Peter’s awful, self-driving machines, but a real car that he had to shift into different modes and made him feel like a real man – he was utterly relaxed. “That was incredible, Nelson,” he said, offering his boyfriend a small smile. “Truly. I haven’t enjoyed a holiday more than this in years.”  
“I’m glad, man,” Nelson said with a matching, drowsy smile. He had seemed particularly susceptible to the coddling, and he was even more relaxed that Gavin had ever seen. He half-expected him to melt out of his chair.  
“I have quite a lot to do to top this, I guess,” Gavin added teasingly. In spite of the implied joke, he shot Nelson a quick glance to catch his expression. Much to his chagrin, his boyfriend shifted in his seat and looked uncomfortable. Of course. I haven’t even done anything yet and I’ve still fucked it up. “I don’t have to do anything, of course,” he added, trying to keep his voice steady even while gritting his teeth. “I just thought you might appreciate it.”  
“No, I would,” Nelson said quickly.  
“But?”  
“But…” Nelson trailed off. He started chewing absentmindedly at his lip. “I’m just not sure I want something huge. Like, I don’t think I want a big, grand gesture.”  
“And who said I was definitely planning a big, grand gesture?” Gavin snapped.  
Nelson raised his eyebrows at his boyfriend. “Were you… not?” he asked carefully.  
“No. Of course I wasn’t. I know you a little better than that, you know. How self-absorbed do you think I am?”  
“Not self-absorbed, just, you know, not super thoughtful or whatever,” Nelson corrected. This hardly helped, and Gavin felt his cheeks starting to flush. “Anything you do for me will be great and whatever. I’d just prefer it to be kinda low-key. I didn’t leave the life of luxury just to get tossed back in right away.”  
“You didn’t leave the lap of luxury,” Gavin pointed out, voice rough with frustration. “The lap of luxury left you when that ramen-haired idiot stole all of your money.”  
“I’d just like to return to the simple life for a while,” Nelson said, continuing on and staring out the window as if he hadn’t heard a word that Gavin had said. “Maybe Kickstart the potato canon.”  
“Can you Kickstart that?”  
“You can Kickstart anything.”  
“But successfully?”  
Nelson shrugged. “That one kid got people to pay him a ton of money to make potato salad, and let’s be real, this is a way better way to use potatoes. I think people will be into it.”  
Gavin pressed his lips together tight in an effort not to smile. He hated that fucking potato canon, but he’d be damned if he didn’t love Nelson.  
A couple days passed. Christmas was getting closer and closer, looming like a great beast in the darkness, and he still had no idea what he should get Nelson. He went through his normal list of extravagances – caviar, wine tastings, high-end scotch – and none of them fit. He started looking into bouncy house rentals, but the idea of renting a bouncy house for a twenty-seven-year-old man was a little much for him.  
He sighed and shoved his computer away, irritated. He just wanted to do something nice for his boyfriend. Why was this so hard?  
Unwittingly, he thought back to his first Christmas with Peter, and he almost cringed.

“Hey,” Gavin said, sitting cross-legged on Peter’s bed in their cramped dorm, “I got you something.”  
Peter looked up from his book, his eyebrows slightly raised. “For what purpose?”  
“A Christmas gift.”  
“Oh!” His lips twitched into a smile. “That’s very kind of you.” He accepted the indelicately wrapped parcel from Gavin with grace. Most people thought that Peter was awkward or unappreciative, but Gavin knew that it was neither of these things; he just knew what he wanted. He could always be counted on to appreciate things the exact right amount, and Gavin loved that about him.  
Peter carefully peeled back the bright blue paper and sat for a moment, staring at the box. “Oh,” he finally said. “It’s a watch.”  
“Yeah.” Gavin found that his heart was pounding, which irritated him. Why should he be nervous? It was just Peter. “I thought you might like to have a nice one.”  
Peter blinked. “I’m afraid I already have a watch,” he explained.  
“I – Yeah, I know,” Gavin said. He pushed his annoyance down, even though it was starting to grow. He should have known. This was Peter; he should have known that a watch wasn’t going to impress him. “It’s just that your watch is sort of cheap. It doesn’t always look professional.”  
“But it tells time perfectly adequately,” Peter explained, holding up his wrist and showing Gavin the chunky black digital watch sitting there. “See? It’s 8:08.”  
Gavin took a deep breath, releasing it slowly and closing his eyes. He tried to blame his anger on Peter, but he knew that wasn’t right; he was angry at himself for thinking that this would work. This wasn’t the right gift for Peter. Why had he gotten him a watch? He should have known. He should have anticipated the look of slight disappointment that crossed Peter’s face when he opened it. ‘Fucking Gavin,’ he thought savagely, ‘can’t do a Goddamn thing right.’   
Still, he said, “It’s just that watches can say a lot about you. You’re turning into a professional now. We’re starting a business that can really go somewhere. You’ll want a watch that reflects that.”  
“Ah.” Peter nodded slowly. “So it’s for the sake of appearances.” If this bothered him, he didn’t show it.  
“Yeah,” Gavin said awkwardly. It seemed better than explaining that he thought that Peter might enjoy it or be impressed by the fine craftsmanship. It had cost Gavin a great deal; he was a little irritated that he wasn’t able to show Peter the price and explain, ‘This is how much you mean to me. This is what I’m willing to put into our relationship.’  
Still, Peter took the watch out of the box, took off his digital watch, and replaced it with the new Rolex. “This is nice,” he said, as a perfunctory sort of statement. “It tells time very accurately. Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome,” Gavin said, but the good will he had felt before had shriveled, and all he could think was, ‘Fuck Christmas.’

That was how most Christmases with most people had gone, Gavin realized gloomily as he sat, scrolling through Amazon for gifts. He got people something beautiful and incredibly expensive, and it went unappreciated. The gift was always either too much or too little. “You know,” someone had told him once – some boyfriend he couldn’t really remember the face or name of, one of the many Peter placeholders he’d had in his life – “it’s supposed to be the thought that counts.”  
‘Right,’ Gavin thought. ‘But you can’t put a price on thoughts.’  
That stopped him in his tracks. _You can’t put a price on thoughts._ Maybe, he realized finally, that was the point.  
Inspiration struck suddenly, and he bolted up, grabbing his jacket on the way and he hurried out of his house.

“Where are we going?” Nelson asked. He seemed surprised that they had ventured out of the exclusive, rich areas of the city. “Is there some underground place I don’t know about?”  
“No.” Gavin’s heart was fluttering; he had told himself this was a good idea, but he was really doubting that now. Maybe Nelson would have liked caviar. “I thought that maybe, for your Christmas gift, we could go on a date.”  
“Oh. Cool.” Nelson looked a little unconvinced, but his voice was optimistic. “Where are we going? Opera? Theater? Restaurant?”  
“McDonald’s,” Gavin answered.  
The car went silent. For once, it seemed like he had actually shocked Nelson. “We’re going to… McDonald’s?”  
“Yes.” Gavin felt his face burning. “And after that, I thought we could go see a movie.”  
“Okay, yeah. Cool.” Nelson cleared his throat. “But, uh, why?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Like… Why? Why are we doing this instead of something else? Not that I’m complaining, it’s just that it doesn’t fit with our usual date night routine.”  
Gavin sighed. He’d been hoping he wouldn’t have to explain, but he knew that that had been a long shot. “Exactly. It’s nothing like our usual dates. That’s why I wanted to do it.” He glanced over at Nelson, who was frowning, and continued. “I know that we pretty much always do what I want. I know I’m not the world’s most self-aware person, but I can at least acknowledge that. When you set up that whole spa thing for us, it made me realize how much effort you put into doing things for me and becoming part of my world.” He saw Nelson’s mouth open and continued quickly, hoping to avoid any Little Mermaid references. “I wanted to do the same for you. I wanted to do something that you would like. So that’s what we’re doing.”   
The car was silent for a minute. Gavin was considering just crashing the car when Nelson said, “Gav, that’s fucking awesome.”  
Gavin almost jumped with surprise. “Really?”  
“Yeah!” Nelson was grinning. “Seriously, that’s really, really cool of you. I’ve been craving a Big Mac for like three days, but I just haven’t bothered to go to McDonald’s. This is perfect. Plus, I’ve been dying to see _Rogue One_ , but everyone had either already seen it or is way too busy.”  
Gavin’s body relaxed, and he grinned. “Good, because that’s exactly what I got tickets to see.”  
Nelson put his hand over Gavin’s. “You know me so well.”  
McDonald’s was an experience. Gavin hadn’t been to one in at least ten years, and he was surprised by the interior. “It actually looks pretty nice in here,” he said. “Are we really in the right place?”  
“The golden arches make it hard to miss,” Nelson said with a shrug. “They’ve rebranded a lot. It’s pretty cool. It’s kind of a bummer that they keep getting rid of the play places, though.” When he saw Gavin side-eying him, he added, “I don’t go in them anymore. It’s just that I always had a lot of fun in them when I was a kid. It kinda sucks that other kids don’t get that.”  
Gavin kissed the top of Nelson’s head. Of course he was thinking about other people. He often was.  
They both ordered Big Macs – Gavin had been a little surprised by the changes in menu items, but had decided to stick with a classic – and sat down. At the first bite, Gavin couldn’t help but let out a tiny groan. Nelson smirked. “Is it good?”  
“This is fantastic.” Gavin took another greedy bite. “Holy shit. Why did I stop coming here?”  
“You probably watched _Supersize Me_. Don’t worry,” he added, seeing Gavin’s widened eyes, “all that was bullshit.”  
Gavin started in on his fries, absolutely devouring them. “God, I forgot how good this stuff tastes.”  
“Better than kale?”  
“A thousand times better than kale.”  
“That’s what I’ve been telling you, man. That organic stuff isn’t really worth it. Except for fruit. My fruit guy knew what he was doing with that.”  
Nelson continued talking about anything and everything. Gavin was having trouble paying attention; he was too busy eating.  
Afterwards, as they got back into the car, Gavin teased, “So, do you have room for candy at the movie?”  
Nelson frowned. “Dude. You don’t buy candy _at the theater,_ do you?”  
“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”  
Nelson shook his head, but he was grinning. “Find the nearest Target,” he ordered. “I’m going to change your life.”

“Are you sure about this?” Gavin asked nervously.  
“Of course I am. This is what pockets were invented for.” Nelson artfully tucked two packages of Milk Duds into one pocket of his jacket, two packs of Junior Mints in the other, and carefully tucked Red Vines under his arms. Gavin was already kitted out with Skittles, M &Ms, Sour Patch Kids, and what seemed like hundreds of other kinds of junk food in all of his tactical pockets. “You never buy candy at the movie theater. That’s like, rule number one.”  
“I thought you weren’t allowed to bring your own food into the theater.”  
“Exactly!” Nelson explained. “It’s like you’re doing a heist every time. It’s awesome.”  
“So we’re skipping the popcorn and pop, then?”  
Nelson smiled. “I didn’t say that.”

Gavin was so full by the end of the movie that he was almost at the point of being queasy. Nelson – whose stomach seemed able to contain an astoundingly disproportionate amount of food – was also moving a little more tenderly than usual. When they got back to Gavin’s home, they both collapsed on the couch in a pile of slight discomfort and satisfaction. “That was way more fun than I thought it would be,” Gavin admitted. He felt a little drunk on a combination of fat and sugar, and it loosened his tongue. “I was worried this night was going to be miserable.”  
“See?” Nelson cuddled up closer to him, slipping in under his arm. “You can let go sometimes. It can be good for you.”  
“I wouldn’t say it was good for me. It might have shaved a year off my life.”  
Nelson rolled his eyes, but he smiled and stayed silent, preferring instead to close his eyes and squirm his way into Gavin’s lap. Gavin wrapped his arms around him and sighed in contentment.   
They had both started to drift off when Nelson sleepily said, “You know… I know we haven’t been together that long, and I know we said we were just gonna do early gifts, but would it be okay if we had Christmas together for real? I know you might have stuff going on, but –“  
He didn’t get a chance to continue. Gavin tilted his head and pressed his lips hard to Nelson’s, tightening his grasp around him. He had to swallow down the sudden, embarrassing urge to cry. “That would be more than okay, Nels,” he said. “I would love that.”  
“Good.” Nelson grinned against Gavin’s lips and kissed him again. “Merry Christmas, Gav.”  
“Merry Christmas, Nels.”


End file.
